Chapter 11
Basic Elements of Organizing
Definition of
Organizing
Prepared By: Raihan Sobhan
Organizing
Deciding how best to group
organizational activities and
resources.
Building Blocks of Organizing
Designing Jobs Grouping Jobs
Establishing Reporting Distributing Authority among
Relationships Jobs
Differentiating among
Coordinating Activities
Positions
Designing
Jobs
Prepared By: Raihan Sobhan
Job Specialization
The degree to which the overall
task of the organization is broken
down and divided into smaller
component parts
Benefits and Limitations of Specialization
Benefits Limitations
• Workers performing small, • Boredom and monotony set
simple tasks will become in, absenteeism rises, and the
very proficient at each task quality of the work may suffer.
• Transfer time between tasks • The anticipated benefits of
decreases specialization do not always
occur.
• Easiness to develop
specialized equipment to
assist with the job.
• Training cost of new
employee decreases
Alternatives of Job Specialization
Job Rotation Job Enlargement
Involves systematically Involves increasing the
moving employees from total number of tasks
one job to another. worker performs.
Job Enrichment
Involves increasing both
the number of tasks the
worker does and the
control the worker has
over the job.
Job Characteristics Approach Work Teams
Suggests that jobs should be Allows an entire group to
diagnosed and improved along design the work system it
five core dimensions, taking into will use to perform an
account both the work system and interrelated set of tasks
employee preferences
Five Dimensions of
the Job
Characteristics
Approach
Grouping
Jobs
Prepared By: Raihan Sobhan
Departmentalization
The process of grouping jobs
according to some logical
arrangement
Bases for
Departmentalization 01 Functional
Grouping jobs involving the same or similar activities.
02 Product
Grouping activities around products or product
groups.
03 Customer
Under this, the organization structures its activities to
respond to and interact with specific customers or
customer groups.
04 Location
Location departmentalization groups jobs on the
basis of defined geographic sites or areas.
05 Time
Grouping activities based on time schedule.
Establishing
Reporting
Relationships
Chain of Command
Clear and distinct lines of authority
among all positions in an
organization
Components of Chain of Command
Unity of Command
Suggests that each person
within an organization must
have a clear reporting
relationship to one and only Scalar Principle
one boss.
Suggests that there must be a
clear and unbroken line of
authority that extends from
the lowest to the highest
position in the organization.
Span of Management
The number of people who report
to each manager
Tall Versus Flat Organizations
Tall Organizations
Tall organizational structures
usually tend to be more
expensive requiring more
managers. Flat Organizations
Flat organizational structure
leads to higher levels of
employee morale and
productivity.
Factors Affecting the Span of Management
Distributing
Authority
Prepared By: Raihan Sobhan
Authority
Power that has been
legitimized by the
organization
Delegation
The process by which
managers assign a portion of
their total workload to others
Figure 11.4: Steps in the Delegation Process
11 - 21
Centralization
The process of systematically
retaining power and authority
in the hands of upper-level
managers. Decentralization
The process of systematically
delegating power and authority
throughout the organization to
middle- and lower-level
managers.
Coordinating
Activities
Prepared By: Raihan Sobhan
Coordination
The process of linking the activities
of the various departments of the
organization
Three Major Forms of Interdependence
Pooled Sequential Reciprocal
When units operate with When the output of a unit When activities flow both
little interaction; their comes becomes then ways
output is simply pooled at input for another unit
the organizational level
Structural Coordination Techniques
Differentiating
Among
Positions
Line Position
A position in the direct chain of
command that is responsible for
the achievement of an
organization’s goals. Staff Position
A position intended to provide
expertise, advise, and support
for the line position.
